Hydrocele

During this period the bowels should be cleansed daily with a warm water enema. If constipation is habitual, all steps should be taken for its eradication.. After all all-fruit diet the patient may adopt the following regimen :

Breakfast : Fresh fruit as obtainable, or grated raw carrot or other raw salad-stuff, prunes or other dried fruits, if desired, and a cup of milk.

Lunch : Steamed vegetables, as obtainable, with either a poached or scrambled egg or a vegetarian savory. Stewed fruit or a baked apple may be taken for dessert.

Dinner : A good-sized raw salad, of any suitable vegetable as obtainable, with whole wheat bread and butter, and prunes or other dried fruits as dessert.

Further short periods on the all-fruit diet should be undertaken at monthly intervals as required, for two or three consecutive days each time. The diet factor is of the utmost importance and fruits and salads must form the main basis of the future dietary . Alcohol, strong tea, coffee condiments, pickles and sauces should be avoided. Smoking, where habitual, should be given up.

Water Treatment

Treatment through water is extremely beneficial in curing hydrocele. Cold hip baths twice daily in the morning and the evening, for 10 minutes each time, are specially valuable. For a cold hip bath, an ordinary tub may be used. It should be filled with cold water. The patient should sit in the tub, keeping the legs outside.

A hot Epsom-salts bath is also very useful in the treatment of hydrocele and should be taken once or twice weekly, where possible. This bath is prepared as outlined in chapter 3 on Therapeutic Baths.

Every effort should be made to build up the general health level to the highest degree. Fresh air and outdoor exercise are essential to the success of this treatment. Sun and air bathing, where possible, should be undertaken. All habits, and practices tending to lower the tone of the body should be studiously avoided ; strain should be avoided as far as possible. The wearing of a suspensory bandage is often useful.

Unless the condition persists for a long time, the foregoing treatment should soon begin to show its beneficial effects, and the whole general health-level of the sufferer will be greatly enhanced at the same time.